TECHNICAL WORKSHOP TO KICK OFF THE 2ND PHASE OF THE CALL FOR CAPITALISATION
On 11/04/2025 the programme held an online workshop to which the entities whose proposals were selected in the 1st phase of the capitalisation call were invited. The session was structured in three parts:
- Presentation by the Management Authority of the capitalisation call, results of the 1st phase and conditions established in the Rules of the 2nd phase of the call.
- Presentation by the external capitalisation expert on the methodology of the projects to be presented in the 2nd phase.
- Presentation by the Joint Secretariat of the 2nd phase form in e-MAC, its structure and details of each section.
The deadline for the submission of the 2nd phase, which opened on 11/04, will end on Monday 19 May at 23:59 (Canary Islands and Madeira time, one hour less in the Azores).
MAC PROGRAMME PARTICIPATES IN INTERREG GO!
The Interreg MAC programme is participating in the Interreg event taking place these days in Gorizia and Nova Gorica. High level political representatives from the Commission and the different Interreg programmes, managing authorities and other stakeholders will discuss the key points of the consultation on the post 2027 period and on the current and future priorities of European Territorial Cooperation.
The Director General for European Affairs of the Government of the Canary Islands and Managing Authority of the MAC, Celia Alberto, took part as a speaker in the panel dedicated to the future of cooperation at the external borders of the EU, together with representatives of the Interreg NEXT and IPA programmes.
During her speech, she highlighted the unique nature of the EU’s outermost borders in the Caribbean, South America, the Indian Ocean and the mid-Atlantic, and the importance of the Interreg programmes in strengthening their regional integration through closer cooperation with neighbouring third countries.
The Director highlighted the contribution of the MAC programme to the relations between the Canary Islands, Azores and Madeira and their neighbours on the West African coast, creating the right environment to increase exchanges between entities on each side of the border – universities, research institutes, public administrations, port authorities and business associations, among others – always from a perspective of mutual benefit.
The geographical area covered by the MAC programme presents significant challenges, arising from the differences between the partners, not only in terms of economic development, but also in terms of governance and administrative capacity. Thanks to the effort and commitment of the project partners and their interest in making things work, these constraints have been overcome.
‘Interreg MAC is about working together in a win-win relationship”
36 PROPOSALS SELECTED IN THE 1ST PHASE OF THE CAPITALISATION CALL
On 14 March 2025, the second meeting of the Steering Committee of the INTERREG Madeira-Azores-Canary Islands (MAC) Programme 2021-2027 was held online, and decisions were taken on the proposals submitted in the 1st phase of the capitalisation call. The Monitoring Committee ratified these decisions on 21 March.
The evaluation was carried out by external capitalisation experts. In the first stage of the evaluation, of the 67 proposals submitted, 13 were excluded because they did not have a sufficient relationship with climate resilience. The remaining 54 were evaluated using assessment criteria (scores from 1 to 5).
The criteria adopted by the Committee for these proposals were:
- Select the proposals with a score of 3 or higher.
- Limit the submission of projects in the 2nd phase to a maximum of 2 per organisation.
- The same project in the 2nd phase may group together several approved capitalisable results from the same or different projects of origin 14-20.
In the section Call for Proposals/2nd Call for Proposals Capitalisation, you will find a list of the 54 proposals with their corresponding scores.
The Rules of the 2nd phase of the call for proposals for capitalisation have also been published in the same section.
On 11/04/2025, an online conference will be held for all the organisations that submitted proposals selected in the 1st phase to inform about the presentation of complete projects in phase 2. Information will be sent to those selected shortly.
1st STATEMENT OF EXPENSES PAID (for ERDF European partners only)
The 1st statement of expenses paid must include all expenses paid up to 30th June 2025 and must be submitted between 1st and 15th July 2025.
The start date for eligibility of paid expenses will be 21 September 2022 for projects that have period 0 active in the activity schedule and 25 October 2024 (date of signing of contracts) for projects that have not activated period 0.
The Declaration of expenses paid module will be enabled in e-MAC next April; once this module is enabled, you will be able to create and save your expenses and the corresponding supporting documentation. In other words, it is not necessary or convenient to wait for the 15-day period for submitting declarations to be opened in order to create expenses.
We will soon be organising online sessions to explain to the European partners of the projects how the new module for the Declaration of Paid Expenses works. All project contact persons and active e-MAC users will receive information about these sessions shortly.
UPDATED EXPENSE ELIGIBILITY RULES AND TECHNICAL DATA SHEETS BY EXPENSE TYPE
A new version of the rules on the eligibility of expenses and the technical datasheets by type of expense has been published.
Technical datasheet 2 relating to office and administrative expenses has not been modified.
A new Technical datasheet has been added: Datasheet 7. Visibility, transparency and communication expenses.
The following annexes have been published:
- Datasheet 1_Annex I_Staff declaration template
- Datasheet 1_Annex II_Time sheet table
- Datasheet 5_Annex I_Stock register
- Datasheet 5_Annex II_Purchase Declaration
- Datasheet 5_Annex III_Example of amortisation table
We remind you that this documentation only affects the financial management of European partners who are beneficiaries of the ERDF.
NEWS FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
THE NEW INTERREG.EU IS NOW LIVE!
The new interreg.eu website aims to tell the Interreg story in a more engaging and dynamic way, showcasing the human impact of our work.
This is a big step forward in making the Interreg voice heard more loudly, especially at a time when cooperation is more important than ever.
Explore the Interreg website: www.interreg.eu
TAKE PART IN SHAPING THE NEXT EU LONG-TERM 2028-2034 BUDGET!
The Commission initial proposal for the next EU long-term budget is now available. The long-term Budget, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework, sets out the EU’s spending priorities for several years.
The Commission is now inviting all Europeans to have their say on the next budget and the policies it should support. It has started a series of public consultations that will remain open until 6 May.
You can find the links to these consultations below:
- You can now take part in shaping the next EU long-term budget – European Commission.
- EU’s next long-term budget (MFF) – implementing EU funding with Member States and regions
LAUNCH OF THE REGIOSTARS 2025 PROJECT COMPETITION
The European wide search for the best cohesion policy projects in 2025 has begun. REGIOSTARS is Europe’s label of excellence for EU-funded projects that demonstrate the impact and inclusivity of regional development.
Has your project created a positive impact locally? Was something new developed as part of it? Did it benefit your region economically, socially or environmentally? Do the results continue to show even after the project ended? Could it be rolled-out across Europe?
If “yes!”, submit your application to the REGIOSTARS contest via the application form: EU Survey REGIOSTARS application form
As in previous year, the projects compete in five categories familiar from the cohesion policy objectives. The competition categories are:
- Category 1: A COMPETITIVE AND SMART EUROPE
- Category 2: A GREEN EUROPE
- Category 3: A CONNECTED EUROPE
- Category 4: A SOCIAL AND INCLUSIVE EUROPE
- Category 5: A EUROPE CLOSER TO THE CITIZENS
The deadline for submitting applications is 20 May 2025.
More information: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/projects/regio-stars-awards_en
INTERREG PROJECT SLAM 2024-2025: A DECADE CELEBRATING INTERREG IMPACT
The Interreg Project Slam has become a landmark event for showcasing the powerful results of Interreg projects. Since its inception in 2015, the competition has been an essential visibility tool for the Interreg community, helping to amplify the stories of cooperation and impact in the EU and the regions where these projects are implemented.
This year marks a double celebration for Interreg and the Interreg Project Slam. Interreg is proudly celebrating 35 years of fostering cooperation across borders, and the Interreg Project Slam is celebrating its 10th anniversary of showcasing the impactful results of the projects.
The impactful work of the 6 finalists showcases the diverse ways in which Interreg projects are changing lives and communities across Europe.
You can watch their stories and support your favorite project by giving it a like on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/100064389384224/1576221430437141/
PRESENTATION IN MAURITANIA OF THE NEW INTERREG MAC PROJECTS
On 20 February 2025, the conference for the presentation of the projects approved in the 1st Interreg MAC (Madeira, Azores, Canary Islands) call for proposals was held in Nouakchott, Mauritania. The conference was held within the framework of the strategic project ATLANTE, approved by the Interreg MAC programme to support and boost cooperation with the programme’s African partners.
The institutional opening was attended by the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, the Spanish Ambassador, the European Union Ambassador, the Mauritanian Minister of Economy and Finance and senior officials from the Government of the Azores and the Canary Islands (Directorate General for Relations with Africa and Directorate General for European Affairs, Managing Authority of the Interreg MAC programme).
The projects were presented by representatives of the organisations responsible (main partners from the Canary Islands) together with their Mauritanian partners (universities, tourist offices, chambers of commerce, national and training institutes, etc.). The strong commitment to joint work at both the institutional and technical levels for the implementation of the projects was evident, as was the importance of the previous experience in most of the partnerships.
Nine of the ten approved projects were presented with Mauritanian partners, mainly within Priority 1 of the programme (Smart MAC) in areas such as the green and blue economy (desalination, algae, aquaculture, food security) and business competitiveness and innovation (tourism, ports, adapted training) with 2 projects also in Priority 2 (Green MAC) on renewable energies, biodiversity and green and blue infrastructures and finally a project within the framework of Priority 4 (Mobility MAC) to address the phenomenon of migration in a global manner (Observatory of mobility between the Canary Islands and Africa). The importance of the training component foreseen in most of the projects was emphasized.
PROJECT MODIFICATION AND EVENT PUBLICATION GUIDELINES AVAILABLE
We inform you that the following guides for partners of approved projects have been published in the ‘Documentation’ section of the website:
- Communication: Guide to publish an event on the programme website,
- Project modifications: Project modifications guide.
We kindly ask all ERDF partners to download and read these documents.
We remind you that the publication of public events in the framework of each project is an obligation for the beneficiaries.
RESULTS OF THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE FUTURE OF INTERREG AFTER 2027
The European Commission has called on all Interreg programmes to consult their partners, beneficiaries and citizens on how to make European territorial cooperation work better in the future period 2028-2034.
During the months of September and October 2024, the Interreg MAC programme opened a public consultation process to gather stakeholders’ views on our programme and to identify proposals for improvements to be implemented in the next programming period.
You can consult the results of the Public Consultation on the following link:
Consultation Results
PRESENTATION OF THE NEW INTERREG MAC PROJECTS IN SÃO TOMÉ AND PRÍNCIPE
On 12 December 2024, the second seminar of presentation of the projects approved under the 1st call of the Interreg MAC 2021 – 2027 Programme was held in Sao Tome, with the participation of partners from Sao Tome and Principe.
The conference, organised in the framework of the ATLANTE strategic project, was opened by representatives of the European Commission, the Portuguese Embassy and the Spanish Consulate in the country, as well as the Minister of Planning and Finance of the Government of Sao Tome, the focal point of the MAC Programme in the country. The Managing Authority of the Programme, the General Director of European Affairs of the Government of the Canary Islands, representatives of the Government of the Azores, headed by its Vice-President, and the Regional Director of European Affairs and External Cooperation of the Government of Madeira will also take part in the event.
The 15 projects approved, for the first time, with the participation of Sao Tome and Principe entities in the Green MAC and Smart MAC priorities were presented.
The European entities, main partners of the projects, presented the projects with the participation of local partners who presented their activities in the framework of the projects. This opens the new stage of territorial cooperation with this country, one of the new countries included in the programme’s cooperation area.
At the end of the day, a networking session was set aside to allow participants to continue establishing connections for the next calls for proposals and to strengthen the links already created between partners.
